Posts Tagged ‘Nissan GT-R’

The Nissan GT-R is a perpetual motion machine, always seeming to be on the move, even when parked.

Wherever it’s going, it will get there a little faster next year, the Japanese maker giving the little supercar more power – and some design tweaks for 2017. It’s a welcome send-off considering the GT-R is expected to undergo a complete makeover within the next two years.

Performance News!

“As the icon of Nissan’s driving performance, the GT-R continues to evolve,” said Mamoru Aoki, executive design director, Global Design Center, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. “With the signature V-motion grille, the GT-R now possesses the latest Nissan design language. Its exceptional aerodynamic performance and upgraded interior have given the GT-R a more mature character, which will continue into the future.”

The Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo is apparently more than just a virtual fantasy.

The great thing about the digital world is that you can do just about anything with the right programmer. A little bit of code and your latest Mario Brothers game allows you to drive upside-down. But when it comes to the long-running Gran Turismo series, the goal has been to craft something as real as possible, from the look of the cars to the way they perform “on track.”

And with the new Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo, the maker is broadly hinting that its latest entrant into the PlayStation driving franchise might eventually become a case of life imitating art.

Beyond the Headlines!

The Concept 2020, it says, “gives hints as to how a supercar of the future might look.” There is, of course, a yawning gap between saying this “is” a look at a future Nissan supercar and a more waffling “might be.” But it’s not all that much a stretch to connect a few dots to see how this virtual concept could be the missing link between today’s Nissan GT-R and the model that might follow.

Looking like it might belong in the movie version of Ray Bradbury’s classic sci-fi tale, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Nissan has offered up a teaser image of a new concept sports car that it will soon unveil during an event in Los Angeles.

Promising “all will be revealed” next Monday, June 16th, the Japanese maker hints that what it has in store, appropriately enough, will be “the next chapter in our Nissan story to an audience that has always shared our passion for performance.”

Gamesmanship!

What might that mean? If Vegas bookies were working up the odds, there’s better-than-even money on the likelihood the maker is about to introduce a new virtual concept that should plug into the wildly popular Sony PlayStation videogame, Gran Turismo.

The world’s most memorable cars are often just that because of their exterior appearance or more precisely, the paint. It’s the first thing that catches the eye whether of a prospective buyer or a simple admirer.

Nissan seems to get it. It’s added a special tweak to the paint on its 2015 GT-R sports car and it caught the eye of many at its recent event for the new racer: gold…real gold. The Japanese maker added gold flecks to its “regal red” giving it a golden sparkle in bright sunlight.

What a Concept!

It’s not an inexpensive option, adding about $3,000 to the price, but given the GT-R comes in at $107,650, including delivery charges, it may not be a big deal. (more…)

A day before the formal opening of the Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan is making headlines with the first official images and details of the next-generation GT-R sports car. For 2015, that will include a new “race inspired” Nismo version that will make a full 600 horsepower.

But even the “base” version of the 2-seater won’t be far behind as it adds another 50 horsepower over the outgoing Nissan GT-R. The Japanese maker promises the new version will enhance its “multi-dimensional performance,” which emphasizes handling as much as the GT-R’s raw power.

Your Auto Show Source!

More curvaceous than the outgoing version of the sports car, the automaker bills the 2015 Nissan GT-R as more of an evolutionary, rather than revolutionary transformation. That covers not only the changes made to the V-6 powertrain but updates to the GT-R suspension, body and interior, where Nissan has focused on improving quality and comfort.

But as with any supercar, the numbers will be a major part of the story.

Practical? Check. Affordable? Check. High-performance? We’ll get back to you.

While the little Nissan Juke crossover might be reasonably peppy in its modest class it’s not exactly a supercar. Well, not until the automaker decided to see what would happen if it tried to squeeze the same 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-6 found in the GT-R under the hood of the Juke.

Now, says the Japanese maker, it has created the “ultimate compact crossover,” a concept it is calling the Nissan Juke-R

Stay on Top!

Though final figures aren’t available for Nissan’s “Super Juke,” expect something short of the stock 2012 GT-R’s 530 horsepower and 448 lb-ft of torque. More likely, the pony count will be capped at 480, which is still a significant bump up from the 188 hp and 177 lb-ft made by the crossover’s stock 1.8-liter inline-four.

That’s expected to let the Juke R top 60 in under four seconds and hit a peak 170 mph – which would exceed the numbers of a Porsche Boxster.

GTR is a relatively high-strung car since the horsepower peaks at 6,400 rpm and the maximum 434 lb-ft of torque appears 3,200 rpm.

The sequential-shifting transaxle features separate wet clutches for the odd (1, 3, 5) and even (2, 4, 6) gears, and pre-selects the next highest and next lowest gear for immediate shifts. It also has a “Hill Start Assist” for launch on uphill inclines.

An electronically-controlled ATTESA E-TS all-wheel-drive system was specifically developed for GT-R. The rear drive-biased system can vary the percentage of torque split from 0:100 to 50:50 depending on speed, lateral acceleration, steering angles, tire slip, road surface and yaw rate.

No Torque Bias!

A “yaw-rate feedback control” measures the differences between the target yaw rate calculated from steering angle and actual yaw rate, as detected by the yaw-rate sensor and G sensor. It then adjusts torque bias in an attempt to help the driver get the turn her or she wants. (more…)